Galactic Beauties & Melting Men: An Interview with William Sachs by Kent Hill

Movies are a lot like songs. You hear a song and you rekindle a feeling, a moment, a memory. And films work in exactly the same way. As I often reflect on my life, I have come to realize how many great moments have been marked by the good, the bad and the ugly movies that a town called Hollywood has unleashed upon the world.

I flashback to the third grade. This was still in the era of the massive video stores. I distinctly remember overhearing a conversation among a group of my peers about wandering through the ‘horror’ section one fine day. At this point in history, some of these stores were really decked out and ‘themed.’ The kids section had cartoon characters on the walls, the adult section was contained in a tiny house that had red curtains covering the door and two small windows (this was affectionately known in our local store as the ‘smut hut’). Then their was the horror section, set in a cave filled with black light, with fluorescent ‘scary’ eyes painted on black brick walls.

These kids that I overheard were talking about a particular horror film that had both fascinated and horrified them, though, none of them had seen it. All of their talk and speculation they were basing purely on the cover. And we all know that old chestnut. So, I became king for a day in my class when I summoned the moxie to go rent this video that had aroused so much interest. It was called The Incredible Melting Man.

The director of the movie was William Sachs. As was my custom of the day, I then proceeded to seek out any and all of the other films he had directed. I was fascinated with the movies that I uncovered.

I recently had the very large pleasure of chatting with Bill about his career, not solely as a filmmaker, but as a legendary Hollywood ‘fixer.’ I’m a fan of the Leprechaun movies, and Bill had a hand in the first installment which, to his surprise, has gone on to become a much-loved, ongoing series.

He is a great gentleman of the old school and it was a real treat indeed, for this fan, to hang out and talk movies with him. As ever, it is awesome to present, yet another interview with one of the great cult filmmakers and a stalwart independent spirit.